People who want to get the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine in Taipei can make reservations starting today, Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said yesterday.
Reservations for 25,000 Novavax doses can be made from 9am today on Taipei’s COVID-19 vaccination reservation system, he said, adding that they would be administered from Monday to Sunday next week.
Reservations can be made until 5pm tomorrow, but if there are still slots remaining, the system would remain open past the deadline, the system’s Web site says.
Photo: Dado Ruvic, Reuters
Six hospitals in the city — National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Pojen General Hospital, the Central Clinic and Hospital, the Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center and the Zhongxiao branch of Taipei City Hospital — would also offer Novavax vaccinations on Friday, Tsai said.
From Monday next week, the vaccine would be available at 22 hospitals and clinics in Taipei, he said.
The Novavax vaccine is approved as a primary and booster shot for people aged 18 or older, and can be mixed and matched with other brands available for that age group, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
Taiwan received its first shipment of 504,000 doses of the vaccine on Thursday. The remainder of Taiwan’s order of 2.268 million Novavax vaccines from COVAX — the global vaccine program run by Gavi and the WHO — would be delivered by the end of the year, the CECC has said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan yesterday received a shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11, the final batch of the vaccine it has ordered for this year, the CECC said.
The shipment contains 590,400 doses that expire on Dec. 30, it said.
Taiwan signed a contract in April to purchase 1.8 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for adults and 2.2 million doses of the vaccine for children aged five to 11, which have now all been delivered.
The CECC previously said that it was negotiating a new deal to purchase Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six months to four years.
The first batch of the Moderna vaccine for children aged six months or older is scheduled to arrive early this month, with administration of the vaccine beginning in the middle of this month, the CECC said.
To date, 91.33 percent of Taiwan’s population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 84.08 percent has received two doses and 70.34 percent has received a booster shot, CECC data showed.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS